Interview With Principal Broadley

By: Catie Soulia

Mr. John Broadly is a man of Scottish origin. He worked at Bellows Falls Union High School for 21 years and left because he felt unhappy there. While he was job searching he looked for a place where he’d be happy with his career. He had applied to four different schools he thought he would be happy working at. Then he saw the Green Mountain job opening and felt inclined to apply for it as well because he knew some people and was vaguely familiar with the area. He also had a rival offer from another school he would have been just as happy at but his choice was finalized because of two students on the interview committee. These students graduated last year. They showed him that our school was fun and welcoming. After getting the job, he then decided he wanted to be a part of making this school the best in the entire state. Initially, there were some philosophical views from others prior to him joining our district, and a few frustrated him; however, he was able to work past them all.

Mr. Broadley loves GM, and he always wakes up eager to come to work. He thinks the best part of what he does would be, “working with students every day to make a difference in their lives.”

At the beginning of Mr. Broadley’s career at Bellows Falls Union High School, there were several bomb threats, mostly from students who didn’t want to be in school. Every threat was treated seriously, no matter how frequent they became. This caused the students to have very little time to learn in the classroom. Then BFUHS worked with some local agencies and together they established a procedure to keep their students safe. Afterward, it only took a few weeks for the threats to stop.

Mr. Broadley was a semi-professional soccer player in the United Kingdom for 20 years and participated in a lot of other sports recreationally. He was paid a small amount of money to play, and sometimes he could earn a bonus or a sponsorship. He fondly remembers a specific game in which he had been a substitute player and he’d joined the game with only 25 minutes left. He proceeded to score three goals for his team. His team still lost 4-3, but he felt good about his performance in the game.

Mr. Broadley has two daughters, he has been married for 25 years, and he’s a unique principal. He says his favorite quote is, “Hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard” spoken by Tim Notke.